Love in a High School Hallway
by iloveromance
Summary: Just when Samantha Baker thought her sixteenth birthday couldn't get any worse, something magical happened.
1. Chapter 1

If she lived to be a hundred years old, Samantha hoped that she would never hear the song "Wild Sex in the Working Class" by the popular band Oingo Boingo again. Or the song "True" by the group Spandau Ballet for that matter.

It was practically impossible to decide which was worse; standing in the shadows, watching the guy she liked more than anything slow-dancing with Carolyn Mulford, his perfect girlfriend. Or-no… actually that _was_ the worst. Well, at least it was until she saw the lanky form in front of her.

"All right… I knew you'd come around." He said, flashing his ridiculous braces at her. As though that was going to make her swoon. Barf, was more like it.

She shuddered, gasped and then shut her eyes as tightly as possible, willing the memory to go away. But it was still there, taunting her. God, was she going to have to relive that horrible moment over and over in her mind for the rest of her life? Not to mention what would happen on Monday when she returned to school? There was no telling how many people saw her.

And what about the note; the sex test that she did in Independent Study and nonchalantly passed behind her to Randi? She didn't even want to think about where it had ended up. She was sure that she would find out soon enough, however.

For the millionth time she wished that she'd never mentioned to her grandparents that she had a dance to go to at school. It was bad enough that her sixteenth birthday had been completely blown off by her family, but having to be seen in public with the Donger (also known as the totally weird Chinese guy) was social suicide… or so she thought. Turned out, he was a major babe magnet. How was that possible?

Sadly that wasn't even the lowest point of the day. Why was she such a geek magnet when Carolyn and even her sister Ginny could get guys at the drop of a hat?

Returning to the present, she was painfully aware of the scene before her. Farmer Ted was doing a very lame impression of a human being trying to dance. His friends were cheering him on, laughing hysterically. Why couldn't the dweeb get it through his thick head that she didn't want to be bothered, let alone be seen with him?

Unable to take it anymore, she turned and ran out of the gym. And she didn't stop until she reached the hallway, where, thankfully it was quiet. Her first thought was to leave (oh how she wanted to leave… she wanted to be anywhere but here), but that was impossible. For starters, she had no car, or even a license. As for the car, her parents obviously didn't know about her wish for a black Trans-Am with a ribbon around it. She sighed (shuddered, really), feeling her breath catch in her throat. So much for her dreams of a perfect sixteenth birthday. That dream died the moment she walked into the kitchen that morning. And so much for being happy.

Wearily she leaned against the tiled wall in the quiet hallway and sank to the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

Seconds later she heard footsteps and then laughter. It wasn't hard to guess to whom the footsteps and laughter belonged. Sure enough, Carolyn and her stuck up friends came walking around the corner. They were laughing and talking about Jake. Of course they were. Who else would they be talking about? Samantha sighed and looked away. Carolyn mentioned something about Jake's parents being out of town and then there was more laughter. That laughter could only mean one thing.

Samantha wasn't stupid. Everyone knew that when parents were out of town, a wild party was sure to follow. But it didn't matter anyway. She would never be invited to that kind of party-not at Jake's house-or any house, except maybe Randi or Jimmy's. She told herself that she didn't care, but her tears contradicted her.

She tried to look away again, but made the mistake of looking back just as Carolyn made eye contact. Naturally Carolyn was oblivious to Samantha's expression and flashed her perfect (make that _perfectly annoying_) smile. "How's it going?"

Samantha smiled and brushed away her embarrassing tears. "Fine." she lied. It was the biggest lie she'd ever told. She wasn't fine. She wasn't fine at all and never would be.

She knew that she should go find Dong (he had her grandpa's car and a license after all. How did that happen?), but she couldn't make herself move. Maybe if she just sat in the hallway long enough he'd come looking for her. He was bound to notice that she was missing, eventually. Or not…

Instead she sat there, tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked at her watch. Still another hour or more before the dance would be over. Too bad she hadn't thought to go to her locker and get a book. Something, anything to read. She could at least pretend to study instead of looking stupid. But what sixteen year old girl went to a high school dance to sit in the hallway in study? No one, that's whom.

She thought about Randi and Jimmy, wondering where they were. Surely they were wondering about her. She'd been with them practically the entire dance, doing her best to stay away from Farmer Ted. God, what a stupid name. It had to be the dumbest name in the history of names. But then again, Ted wasn't exactly the brightest person in school either. Amazingly she wondered what he was doing at that very moment. And then she wondered why she cared. Knowing him, he was probably hanging out with his stupid friends, wondering where she was so that he could hit on her again. That was the last thing she needed.

The tears came again, easier this time and she didn't care. No one was around anyway and even if someone saw her, she was sure that they would just blow her off.

Once again she head the sound of footsteps and she quickly looked away. They came closer and closer. Maybe if she pretended to look in her purse, whoever it was wouldn't notice and simply walk on by. It worked on Carolyn and her friends. And Samantha was practically invisible anyway, so it wouldn't take much effort.

But then the footsteps stopped. She continued to look away, down the hallway that seemed endless. She could feel someone standing beside her but she couldn't look. She didn't dare. She waited for the familiar voice, the one that would save her by telling her that he was ready to go. That annoying thick accent from whatever county he was from.

A gentle hand went to her shoulder. "Hey, are you all right?"

But it wasn't Long Duck Dong's voice at all. Not even close. She turned her head and her breath caught in her throat. For standing beside her, a concerned look on his face, was Jake.

Jake Ryan.


	3. Chapter 3

"Samantha?"

She froze. Oh God, he knew her name. But that was impossible. There was no way a guy like Jake would even know she existed, unless…

A horrible image came to her then. He must have seen her standing in front of Ted as the geek humiliated her. There was no other explanation. Why hadn't she run out of the school when she had a chance?

She averted his eyes and brushed away tears. It was totally embarrassing, crying in front of the guy she liked, but it didn't matter. Her life was ruined. She could only thank God that Jake was a senior. Next year he'd be in some ivory league college and would forget all about her. Now he probably just thought that she was a joke.

"Hey…"

With a sigh she turned to look at him. "Hi." The word came out so softly , she doubted that he heard her. But his smile told her that he had.

"Are you all right?"

"I-."

He bit his lip in that adorable way she loved so much. "That was… that was stupid of me."

"What was?"

"Asking if you're okay. Because I can see that you're not."

"No, really. I'm fine." She lied. She struggled to stand and suddenly she felt his hand in hers. It was warm and soft, exactly the way she'd always imagined it. She should have been ecstatic that he'd even spoken to her, let alone knew her name. But instead she was miserable. Hadn't she been humiliated enough for one day?

The next thing she knew she was on her feet. "Th-thanks." She stammered.

He smiled again, warming her heart. "You're welcome. Look… I know it's none of my business, but if you want to talk…"

Her eyes narrowed. This had to be a dream… "Don't you have to take Carolyn home?"

"Caroline. God, I'd almost forgotten about her. Well, she's made me wait enough times, she can wait on me this once. I just wanted to make sure that you're okay. And I meant what I said about talking. I'm a good listener."

_You're a good everything._ She mumbled under her breath.

He smiled. "You really think so? Thanks."

She wanted to die. Had she really said the words out loud?"I-."

"Are you sure you don't want to about it?"

"No, I-I should get going. The guy I came with-."

He nodded. "Right. Damn, I knew that guy was lying! He said you two didn't come together."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. What would Jake Ryan possibly be doing talking to Long Duck Dong? "Y-You talked to him?"

"Yeah. Actually I cornered him the gym because I wanted to ask him about you."

No way was this real. "You were asking about me? Why?"

"Well, because-."

"Jake there you are. What are you doing?"

At the sight of Carolyn, Samantha stiffened. The dream had officially become a nightmare.


	4. Chapter 4

"Jake, I'm talking to you!" Carolyn snapped. She shot a look of disgust at Samantha, who fought the urge to roll her eyes. It was pretty obvious that Carolyn's friendliness toward her earlier was a joke.

"Jake!" Carolyn shouted. "Are you deaf?"

"What?"

"You've been acting strange all night."

"Yeah, you mentioned that while we were in the gym."

"Well, do you have an answer for me? Or are you going to tell me not to have a cow again?"

Jake's gaze went to Samantha and she could tell that he was uncomfortable with Carolyn's questions. Come to think of it, she couldn't blame him.

"Look, why don't we talk about this somewhere else, all right?"

Once again her attitude changed and she slid her arms around his neck, purring like a cat. The sight made Samantha sick to her stomach. And she was sure that Carolyn was purposely trying to make Samantha jealous.

Carolyn's smile looked as fake as the ones that Samantha had seen on those boring soap operas that her mom liked to watch.

"Like at your house? Your parents aren't home and we'd have the whole place to ourselves. Oh that sounds wonderful, doesn't it Jake?"

He sighed and removed her arms from his neck. It was a sight that surprised Samantha. But she did her best not to draw attention to herself. Perhaps she should just leave. Yes, that was best. She would just march back into the gym (ignoring everyone of course) and tell Long Duck Dong that she was ready to go. Boy that would be the understatement of the year.

She turned to leave and but the sound of his voice stopped her.

"Samantha wait, okay?"

"Who's Samantha?"

"Who do you think, Carolyn? She's standing right there! Now if you want to talk, I think we should go somewhere else, but first I have to-."

"No, it's fine, really." Samantha said. "Thanks anyway. I can see that you're busy. I'll just go. I shouldn't have been out here anyway."

"Please. Don't go, all right?"

Samantha sighed. "Jake…"

"Look, I won't be long. I promise I'll be right back."

Carolyn's eyes grew wide. "What are you talking about? I thought we were leaving! Jake?"

He took her by the elbow and escorted her out of the hallway. "Just… come on, let's go someplace and talk for a minute."

And then he was gone.

Alone in the hallway once more, Samantha felt the familiar tears return. Okay, so the past few minutes had been something she'd only dreamed of. Jake Ryan not only spoke more than one word to her, but he actually seemed to care.

But she knew what would happen. He wasn't going to come back. It was probably all an act. He would take Carolyn to his house where they'd have their wild party with tons of people. They'd make up and then on Monday, things would be back to normal. Samantha cringed at the thought of seeing them in the halls, kissing or holding hands as they often did.

The ache in her chest returned and she headed into the gym, praying that no one had seen her.


End file.
